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May 2001
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Browse our online feature offerings, from field adventures and factoids to maps and multimedia. On every feature screen you can Zoom In on Web-exclusive photo galleries and get the tech facts behind the frames. Then enter the world of writers and photographers with behind-the-scenes tales of life On Assignment. Finally, find full resource listings from links to printable maps in More to Explore. Be sure to check out this month’s Sights & Sounds—our multimedia showstopper.
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The Adventures of Marco Polo, Part I
The storied Venetian trader escapes bandits, rampaging rivers, and sandstorms on his way to Kublai Khan’s court in far-off China in this first of three articles.
Highlight: MAP Downloadable, printable, high-resolution map of Marco Polo’s route.
Highlight: WALLPAPER Follow Marco Polo’s trail of adventures with this desktop image.
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Phantom of the Night
These elusive cats rank among Latin America’s supreme predators. Conservationists seek to connect their isolated refuges.
Highlight: MAP Downloadable, printable, high-resolution map of jaguar range.
Sights & Sounds 
Immerse yourself in the world of jaguars in this special multimedia presentation.
Highlight: VIDEO Photographer Steve Winter describes the tracking of creatures both hard to find and dangerous. Also offered as audio-only (recommended for low-speed connections).
Highlight: AUDIO Hear three distinctive samplings of jaguar calls.
Highlight: VIDEO Watch researchers collar the big cats.
Highlight: FORUM Both sides lose as jaguars kill cattle and ranchers, in turn, kill jaguars. With jaguar numbers declining from kills and rapidly shrinking habitat, conservation is urgent. How can ranchers and jaguars co-exist? Share your ideas.
Highlight: POLL Cats versus cattle ranchers, can ranchers and jaguars come to a truce? Cast your vote.
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Mysteries of the Deep Black Sea
Ancient shipwrecks and telltale shells bring to life epics of distant trade and an ancient flood.
Highlight: MAP Downloadable, printable, high-resolution map of the Black Sea.
Highlight: MULTIMEDIA Explorer-in-Residence Robert Ballard describes the trials and triumphs of searching the Black Sea for evidence of Noah’s biblical flood and previews the project’s future. Also offered as audio-only (recommended for low-speed connections).
Highlight: FORUM Scientists think they’ve found the place that inspired the story of Noah’s flood. Is the story of the ark true? Tell us what you think.
Highlight: ONLINE EXTRA Explore the depths of the Black Sea for evidence of Noah’s flood with this downloadable map and find out what Bob Ballard discovered.
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Deadly Haven: Mexico’s Poisonous Cave
An underworld of hydrogen sulfide harbors a strange mélange of creatures.
Highlight: MAP Downloadable, printable, high-resolution map of Villa Luz.
Highlight: MULTIMEDIA This job can kill you! Photographer Stephen Alvarez talks about working in this lung-scorching, acid-filled cave. Also offered as audio-only (recommended for low-speed connections).
Highlight: SPANISH-ENGLISH FORUM Not every National Geographic assignment is an exotic adventure. What trips have you taken that took a turn for the worse? Tell us your stories.
No todas las misiones de National Geographic son aventuras exóticas. ¿Qué viajes han hecho que se volvieron pesadillas? Comparta su historias.
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Lords of the Ancient Skies: Pterosaurs
Soaring vertebrates with similarities to both reptiles and birds thrived for 150 million years until their sudden demise.
Highlight: MAP Downloadable, printable, high-resolution map of pterosaurs’ prehistoric range.
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The Fragile World of Frogs
Like canaries succumbing in a coal mine, these vanishing amphibians are telling a grim tale.
Highlight: MAP Downloadable, printable, high-resolution map of frog habitat.
Highlight: MULTIMEDIA Photographer George Grall talks about getting up close and personal with frogs. Also offered as audio-only (recommended for low-speed connections).
Highlight: FORUM Frogs signal that something’s wrong in the environment. How can we expand our knowledge of poorly researched areas before frogs and other key species disappear? Tell us what you think.
Highlight: POINT OF VIEW George Grall reveals the techniques used to get two of his most astounding frog photos.
Highlight: FINAL EDIT The one that got away from our coverage of frogs is this month’s final edit.
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ZipUSA: Jamestown, New Mexico 87347
Craving banana cream pie? Just pull up the rig outside and wander into this 38,000-square-foot (3,500-square-meter) truck stop for a meal, a shower, and spiritual renewal.
Highlight: NOMINATE your own wonderful, weird, or wacky choice for coverage in this new magazine series.
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